Japanese reporter beaten by Chinese police at Nantong protest

A Japanese reporter was surrounded and beaten by over a dozen policemen when he was covering the protest in Nantong.
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Atsushi Okudera, the correspondent of Tokyo-based Asahi Shimbun's Shanghai Bureau, was beaten by the Chinese police when covering a protest launched by the citizens of Nantong, Jiangsu province, against a branch of a Japanese firm on July 28 for emitting toxins into the waters of the city of Qidong, reports the Japan News Network.

Okudera was surrounded by 15 to 20 Chinese police when he was reporting the suppression against the protesters launched by the local authority. The police took away his camera first and beat him after he claimed himself to be a reporter from Japan. He was hit in the head, forced to the ground and aggressively restrained. His press card was confiscated by the police.

Asahi Shimbun sent protest to the Chinese government and demanded it to return the personal property of Atsushi Okudera. "We cannot excuse it because it is extremely malicious, obstructive behavior against the reporter's legitimate work to report the news," said Tsutomu Watanabe, Asahi Shimbun's international news editor. "We have filed complaints with the Chinese government and demand an apology and the returning of his camera and press ID."

While Atsushi Okudera urged the Chinese government to take step to prevent such incidents from happening again, the Japanese consulate in Shanghai on July 28 also confirmed the story to be true. It stated that it will send protest to the local Chinese authority as well find a way to get Atsushi Okudera's camera and press ID back.